Is Old Music Killing New Music?


I ran across this Atlantic magazine article on another music forum. It asks the question if old music is killing new music. I didn't realize that older music represents 70% of the music market according to this article. I know I use Qobuz and Tidal to find new music and new artists for my collection, but I don't know how common that actually is for most people. I think that a lot of people that listen to services like Spotify and Apple Music probably don't keep track of what the algorithms are queuing up in their playlists. Perhaps it's all becoming elevator music. 

Is Old Music Killing New Music? - The Atlantic

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@jssmith 

I don't know of or have heard of anyone middle age or older in my local sphere, at work, at the gym, or really anywhere except the Web who listens to new artists.

Very interesting. I had not thought of this before you made this comment. I find myself agreeing with your observation with the people I know in my age group. No one I know (except my wife) actually listens to anything outside of what they listened to in high school. Even when I suggest new music to my friends/coworkers they look at me like I am crazy and keep listening to the same 12 albums.

I constantly search for new artists/music and my wife will add them to her playlists much to the surprise of her students. I have always been told I have eclectic taste and maybe that is why I am now listening to groups like Morcheeba, Darkside, Monophonics, Ikebe Shakedown, and others. 

I wonder if this also affects how we select the equipment in our systems? Something else to consider. 

@fleschler 

An interesting response to ponder. First, I'm sure you have an above average IQ. As for being a *Sigma, I can't tell from a short post. On the surface, you seem to have some traits, and a streak of curiosity to a certain level, but not to the obsessiveness of a Sigma. Sigmas don't tend to dabble in things. They become immersive. For instance, I've literally read 250+ books on economics, finance and trading. Sounds nuts, but that's a Sigma for you. And that has been just one of my many immersive hobbies. Sigmas would never say "I don't know what I'd do if I retired." Not having anything to do just doesn't register as being a realistic possibility in a world filled with a seemingly unlimited number of things to do.

I can't speak for streaming in your favorite genres, however I thought it would lack with some of my obscure preferences, but it doesn't. So I sold all my LPs and all but a handful of my CDs. I haven't listened to physical media going on two years.

On YouTube, Rick Beato (a former record producer) does some interesting analysis of new music quite often. To say his audience is less enthusiastic than he is is an understatement. But even he has to admit often that new music lacks creativity. His latest Grammy nominees video is a case in point.

 

*Sigmas can also be determined by the  Myers-Briggs INTJ test result, which I took in my early twenties.

@femoore12 

I wonder if this also affects how we select the equipment in our systems? Something else to consider. 

Hmmm ... don't know, but somehow I doubt it. I think you'd have to start with whether this trait makes you objective or subjective. That has a great deal to do with your system criteria and priorities.

I'm 70 and I've always tried to keep up with contemporary rock, reggae, and pop music. I don't like jazz, blues, or country, but I like all kinds of indie rock and pop, and hip-hop/rap, metal, etc. I also like Grateful Dead music! 

There are so many thousands of new releases each year that nobody could ever listen to more than a fraction of it, so it's amusing to see so much of it written off as 'not as good as music from the 60's' or whenever. Sounds like people of my parents' generation going on about all rock music sounding the same - noise! - and why can't you listen to Bing Crosby and Perry Como - that's REAL music! 🤣🤣 Guess some things don't change.